Crimson Lies
by KillerUchiha
Summary: Very simple. There's a killer, and it's up to the ANBU to catch him. Now, if only they could interpret the strange patterns; of notes, injuries, time, and the oddest thing... M for details to come! If you don't like gore, don't click this; Many Deaths!
1. Chapter 1

It was somewhere near one in the morning, the new moon invisible behind stars and clouds. The ring of a black-corded phone reverberated through the deadly silent station. Without fail, one man, clad in blinding orange, dashed in to meet the call. He had hardly picked up the phone when he heard the screams at the other end.

"Pick up! Pick up! Oh, someone help! Help!"

Naruto held the device about two feet away from his head, and he yelled back, "Hey, calm down! Where are you? Ma'am?"

The woman didn't pause. "Is that N-Naruto? Naruto! I…I'm at the Academy! Come quick, help her! Help!" Hinata cried from the earpiece.

Naruto ran up to the door, trying to push the damn thing open, but it wouldn't budge. "Oh shit!" he exclaimed, and pulled the wooden door agape, rushing through the gained exit. As he did with every call, not knowing anything other than a location, he started calling down the halls, "Emergency! Emergency! We gotta go to the Academy!" If there was one benefit to this, it was that no one had an excuse for not knowing where the crime was. "Come on, Kakashi-sensei, Iruka-sensei…" He banged on the doors as he passed. Then, turning a corner, he shrieked, "Teme, Bug-boy, Sai!" And racing through a third hall, he continued, "Come on, Ero Sennin!"

The said officers and detectives each emerged from their rooms, Sasuke being the first to straight out tell the blonde to, "Shut up!" He neared his boyfriend, adding, "Or I'll make you…"

The blonde flashed an innocent smile, but erased it quickly, becoming very serious. "Hinata's at the Academy. We need to help her, now!"

~xXx~

"Hinata!" Naruto skidded to a halt next to Hinata's hunched form, taking her trembling hand. "It's all right, Hinata," he murmured, pulling her to her feet. He looked up, and waited for eye contact with Iruka. As soon as he caught it, Iruka swiftly made his way to the crying Hyuuga.

"Come on," he coaxed quietly. Hinata sniffled as she was lead away, and the investigation began.

Sasuke ordered Sai to his side. "Go to Hinata. Ask her for details on what happened before…this occurred." The pale boy nodded and went off with Iruka to comfort the poor Hyuuga Hinata that had to witness such a scene; prepare her before the interrogation started. "Shikamaru…do what you do. Naruto and I will collect more data for the profile." He grimaced at the smell that flooded his nostrils, the scent of blood, death. The corpse was nearly indistinguishable, but the scraps of clothing looked similar to… "Oh, God. Naruto, it's…" Naruto nodded slowly; he had already recognized her: Yamanaka Ino.

"Ino…we'll catch whoever did this to you," Naruto promised. That was their job, what they signed up for when they joined the ANBU. Some people were born to become criminals; some people were born to catch them. "Let's…get started."

Naruto and Sasuke, along with help from Iruka, Kakashi, Jiraiya and Shino, scoped the site, but found only blood where the body itself lay. There were no fingerprints that didn't belong to teachers of the Academy, no dirty footprints leaving odd exits of the school, not anything but one clue. A note, carved deep into Ino's right forearm: _emevigrof._ No one understood what those crudely cut letters meant until Shikamaru pointed out blandly that it was 'forgive me' backwards.

~xXx~

The team sat around a wide circular table, files, graphs and images scattered about the surface. "Tell me, now. What's the point of writing that backwards? And who would expect forgiveness for killing someone?" Naruto demanded, once this fact was shown to him. "I mean, what's it for?"

Shikamaru sighed. "The exact reason isn't so clear, but it did help me with the profile. This person, though I'm not certain of all this, is most likely employed and works; there was also a sedative in her blood, so she was unconscious when captured—"

"Whoa, wait! _Captured_? What do you mean by that? She was in the school," Naruto said.

Shikamaru shook his head. "She was bound by her wrists and ankles, then tortured while awake. This person has either contact with medic supplies or an illegal source. They also, by looking at her cut hair, seem to have little respect for women, perhaps in general, or this person's status. Most murderers don't pay attention to things like hair. I suspect a male, but…" Naruto leaned in slightly. "If this unsub had no respect for the victim _and_ was also male, they would've most likely showed their contempt in a more…intimate manner." Naruto understood that. "Judging by the placement and number of incisions, it seems this is another matter that points to having experience in the medical field.

"Furthermore," Shikamaru droned, hating to speak of his friend, Ino, in such a degrading manner, "the prey of this unsub might not have even been a specified target, but a random choosing. That possibility will make it more difficult to catch the perpetrator, but we all should take the notion to mind when determining this criminal's identity."

Shino spoke up, "We also found a gift. You know the Yamanaka flower shop? Iruka and I found traces there. A message above the headboard of her bed was written in blood. We brought back samples and discovered that it was indeed Yamanaka Ino's DNA. Our unsub must've gone back to write that after the kill."

"So?" Naruto said impatiently. "What did it say?"

Shino glanced up from behind dark, full-moon shades and stated firmly, "Hate."

Sasuke offered up, "So, does this mean that the unsub hated Ino, though they obviously knew her well enough to know where she lived, and what room? Or do we need to read further between the lines? We'll try to see what other hints there are of the personality by breaking down and translating the strike patterns, but there is still work to do." He tapped the folder in his hands, no doubt having the worst of the images.

Kakashi raised a hand, finally setting down his book. "Hate, you say? How queer. When I was with Sakura in the autopsy, we had to cut right down the center of the word 'hate' in the process of the Y cut."

"And," Shino interjected, "scattered over the mattress were flowers, roses. Each was torn, the petals blackened. I would say they were burned; the unsub burned a symbol of love."

"We should assume this is personal then?" Jiraiya decided more than asked. "I'll gather more information from relatives and friends about old relationships." Naruto almost stopped him, but the old man was quite good at getting that stuff without much resistance. "I'll check about high school enemies as well." With that, he stood and took his leave. He had quite a few people to interview.

Eyes returned to Shikamaru, who had his hands in his thinking position. While the Nara genius was in that pose, no one interrupted his thoughts. Five seconds passed, ten, fifteen. He looked up. "Thanks to Jiraiya mentioning high school enemies, I think I've got this figured out, but I'll need to check with someone before I give uncertain information. I need to question Inzuka Kiba."

He stood and was going to find the person, with six others following him. "Why do you need to talk to Kiba?" asked Naruto, as he walked alongside his colleague. "What? You think he and Ino were rivals back in school?"

Shikamaru only shook his head, stopping as he neared Iruka. He was still holding Hinata's hand, eyes red and puffy from the sight that haunted her. "What's happening, Nara?"

Shikamaru quickly explained, "I need to question Inzuka Kiba."

At this, Hinata looked up, but only slightly. "Is…has the killer gone after Kiba-kun?" Everyone knew about Hinata's…_fondness_, shall we say, of the dog lover. "Will you protect him? Please?" She didn't want the killer hurting anymore of her important people.

Naruto grinned and comforted, "Of course, Hinata! The ANBU exist to protect everyone!" The timid girl could only nod and think, Except Ino…

Shikamaru turned to face his fellow ANBU team members, saying, "And guys, I can handle this one on my own. You don't all have to follow me." Sasuke paused before turning. "What?" The Uchiha looked as if he had something to mention, but continued on the way to his office.

There's a poll on my profile if you want your guess of the killer to be anonymous. Or say in a review. And don't worry about _Not So Different _and _The Thunder God Girl_. I just need to make the chapters slightly longer, so they'll be done soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Darn it. This site keeps giving me problems... Anyway, is anyone reading this? Until someone favorites, alerts, or reviews, gives me some reason to continue writing it, I won't add a chapter. If no one reads it, and I have no one to write for, there's no point. I have over twenty others to work on, as well.

~sSs~

It was late at night, the new moon still veiled by fog. Shikamaru caught up to Kiba, who was running from his home. The door was bolted tight, but a single light shone through drawn, red shades from a top floor window. Random bits of apparel was loosely flung into a rucksack hanging at his back. He paused at hearing his name. "Kiba, I need information on someone."

He turned around to see Shikamaru, common clothing not covered by ANBU gear. "Shikamaru?"

"You know what happened to Ino, right? Your ex."

Kiba took half a step back. "Ino? You think…" Of course he had heard. It dominated the media; how Yamanaka Ino, a newscaster, was brutally murdered at 1:06 a.m. that morning. Her body was found at the Academy. "…I killed her?"

A look was all he received. Shikamaru walked forward, nearing the Inzuka. Kiba nervously shifted. "I— I'm not a killer! I…" He had that note in his pocket, yet. It explained what to do. He couldn't go to the authorities; they thought he was a suspect. The sender had been anonymous, and they wrote with haste, telling him to go to the Uchiha district before twelve. He wasn't going there, since he knew it foolish to trust an anonymous note during these times, but he wasn't staying home either, not where this stranger knew he'd be.

"It makes sense. I was there at your breakup. You said you no longer loved her, _hated_ her, that _roses_ and chocolate didn't solve every problem. You said she cared more about her _hair_ than she did you. She practically screamed that you were dragging out a _torture_ neither you nor she wanted to endure. That you were _burning_ her like a flower you no longer wanted. Was that it? _You_ put charred roses where she would have been asleep. _You_ tortured her before the inevitable kill. And _you_ must be the only guy that _wouldn't_ rape her before the pain. You're even close friends with Sakura, able to get medical sedatives whenever you visit her at the office. It was you."

Kiba didn't understand how Shikamaru had put all that together, but it wasn't him. It wasn't. "I'm not a killer!"

Shikamaru still loomed closer. "You are suffering from a loss, one which plays with human emotions, thoughts, and sometimes turns into action. You could've done this without even being aware. It's a simple puzzle to put together, once I've collected to pieces."

Kiba could only repeat, "I'm not a killer." I'm innocent. Innocent!"

"I'm convinced otherwise, Inzuka. Where would you be off to in such a hurry? Would you be fleeing, yet keeping one light on as a sign of someone staying in the house?" Kiba's eyes darted to and fro, until a small needle whizzed through the night. A man fell, the tranquilizing fluids shutting him down.

Kiba stood in dumbfounded silence, watching Shikamaru fall. Who— ? Then, by a glow of a streetlight, he saw the man in black, a white dart in his hand. He ran up to Kiba with intense speed. When he turned a masked face to Shikamaru, he knelt and lifted him, dragging him over to rest under the streetlight. He signaled for Kiba to follow, and Kiba hesitated. The fist holding the dart tranquilizer clenched tighter. He realized then that he was going to follow the man in black no matter what. That must be the killer!

The man must've read Kiba's eyes, because as soon as the thought flickered across his mind, a second dart penetrated the night. Kiba was down.

~xXx~

"Wh- what?" he mumbled under his breath. He tried shifting his arms, but they couldn't move. They were tied above his head. When he opened his eyes all the way, he gasped. His immediate reaction was to try to free himself from the ropes that bound him. There wasn't a drop of blood on the floor, but he feared it soon would be. He continued to pull at his bonds.

At the far side of the wall, he saw his tattered old backpack. The contents seemed to still be inside. But, what did he care about those items? They could be replaced; his life couldn't. The masked man stood with arms crossed, his head tilted down, with a most Uchiha-like glower. The eyes were hidden, but the hair was dark and short.

Who was it? Sasuke? Kiba knew he could run fast. The murderer in question strode to Kiba's side, but at a speed so slow that it was antagonizing. "Who are y— " A rough, gloved hand covered his mouth in a flash. They shook their head, silently demanding Kiba to be quiet.

They lifted the note that Kiba had received to his eyes. Kiba stared at it intently, thinking, Sasuke, Sasuke, it's his handwriting.

On this night before twelve

Travel to the district

Of Uchiha and know

One contact will kill. Now

To power, dare not say

Of this secret message.

Six simple lines, yet Kiba had no idea why they would write a warning in poetry. Silver duct tape produced from nowhere was torn of one layer and slapped across Kiba's mouth. There would be no sound escaping him during this process. At the feeling of sticky tape, he was dragged from his thoughts. "I'm sorry," said the masked killer. Kiba jumped at the sound. That voice… It was unmistakable. "I have no choice but to kill you." Oh, God! It was— !


	3. Chapter 3

Sakura was crying at the station, Sasuke and Naruto at her sides. Hinata had it even worse, since he was her crush… um, after Naruto of course. "Kiba! No, no, no!" Sakura couldn't believe it. Kiba was her friend, as close as two non-lovers could get. She could even see him now, standing before her, smiling and saying what Naruto was now. 'It's okay. We'll make it through this.' Only, Kiba didn't make it. He was found dead in the Uchiha ward, just one house away from Sasuke's. That brought on a whole new bout of suspicion; suspicion of a certain Uchiha. Sakura couldn't stand being in the station any longer, and promptly escaped the Uchiha's gaze to the village park. It might be peaceful, in this time of horror.

"There's no way!" Naruto yelled at a bystander. "Sasuke isn't responsible for this — He was framed!"

That bystander happened to be Tenten. "Kiba was found in the Uchiha's property. He was friends with everyone except that Uchiha. Sasuke never was fond of dogs!"

Naruto grit his teeth. "_Dogs? _Sasuke wouldn't kill Kiba for liking dogs!" Naruto was appalled that anyone could think that Sasu-chan would _ever_ murder Kiba for that! Sasuke wasn't a serial killer, if anything, he helped kill the guilty that preyed on innocent. Now, sure, they were never very close, never really associated with each other, but neither had any loathsome feelings, either, right? "Teme wouldn't— "

"He killed Kiba! Who would want to kill Kiba besides your beloved 'Teme' as you say?" Tenten glowered. Kiba wasn't her closest friend, but his death affected her as much as anyone. "He's responsible! He didn't like Ino, either! He always called her annoying! Murderer!" Sasuke held back Naruto at his shoulders. The last thing he wanted was for Naruto and Tenten to get into a childish fist fight; they were all _mature_ adults, now… supposedly. "So what? Are you his partner in crime as well, Naruto?" Tenten was red in the face and still screaming bloody murder (no pun intended) as she was hauled away by both Lee and Neji, her friends from high school and partners in running a dojo for jujitsu; one of Konoha's many was owned by Maito Gai, their first sensei.

"Naruto, stop fighting," Sasuke said, still holding the shorter boy's shoulders in place. "Tenten is wrong, and I didn't kill Kiba. As long as we know that that's a fact, there's no need to worry what others think, all right?" When the echoes settled down, Naruto did as well. "Just calm down, dobe." Naruto almost laughed. Only that teme would call him 'dobe' at this time when so many others were traumatized and fearful of the next victim's identity. Things outside the station were definitely far from calming, though.

~sSs~

Hinata heaved with every fiber of her being. "Kiba!" she gasped. "Kiba-kun!" She held swollen, red eyes behind small hands. "Kiba-kun…" She jumped when someone placed a hand on her, gasping aloud. He leapt to her feet, ready to strike at anything… but only found Sakura smiling sadly at her.

"Thought I might find you here… We've both lost someone important." Hinata sniffled, nodding only once, very slowly. "I hope he wasn't… in too much pain when he… when it…" Sakura couldn't bring herself to say it. Why did things have to happen like this? Why so soon? First Ino, now Kiba… both within two days. Everyone would have to be on guard. She slowly neared the Hyuuga. "Just let us all be safe; let this nightmare end." She drew Hinata into an embrace that was welcomed. A hug was well needed at the time for both.

~sSs~

Sasuke and Naruto walked hand in hand to the Uchiha district, standing just outside the yellow tape. "It's not even possible!" Naruto frowned at the other officers inspecting Sasuke's home and the one adjacent. "You slept at my place all night." Well, slept part of the night… That wasn't the issue! "As if they could find anything other than the closeness of the scene and your home." What was worse was that no one from their team could work on the case. Shikamaru was asked about as well, since he was the one to question Kiba the night of.

Naruto sighed. "Who was it that found him, anyway? Who called the station and told?" Sasuke stiffened. He really didn't want to think about that. Naruto noticed this change, and pressed, "Who was it?"

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke muttered, turning away. "They found him, and that's— "

"Sasuke," he said. "Who?"

Sasuke sighed. This wouldn't go over well. "I'll tell you in a more private, _secluded_ place. I don't want your reaction to be heard by everyone in Konoha."

Naruto furrowed his eyebrows in a way Sasuke didn't know he could. "Tell me, now. There've been two murders in two nights; everyone needs to be on this case."

Sasuke sighed. "All right, but don't say single word. The last thing I need is you screaming around the site." Naruto crossed his arms; as if he would do something so— "Itachi."

Oh. Naruto swallowed his outburst, waiting several seconds with a red face, before testing his quietest voice, with was still loud, "_Him_?" He could've said much more, but tried to keep his rant down for the time being. "As in, _him_-him?" The tirade was coming soon.

Sasuke exhaled rather loudly. Who else? "Yes, him, my brother, him."

"Why the hell… why'd they… blame you for this… this freaking… gah! Damn the authorities, then!" Sasuke growled. He'd have to get Naruto out of the habit of swearing one day. "It wasn't you; it was probably that weasel! Shit, I'm gonna kick his — "

"Naruto." Sasuke cut him off quickly, really not wanting to hear his rude profanity. "Words won't help us right now."

"If you think I'll just give up, then — "

Sasuke smirked. " 'Course not. We'll just have to catch him ourselves." Sasuke lowered his head, closing black eyes. "I think this case is ours, whatever others say. If I'm to clear my name of accusations, we'll gather what we know, and solve it without them,"— Sasuke waved a hand at the strangers examining his home. They should know; even if you're a profiler, you'd need weeks or years to completely learn someone's personality, discover the quirks and twists every character had. Those people didn't have weeks to find the murderer, that had until his next strike and kill; and that could be tonight, for all anyone knew.

Naruto grinned. "Let's meet the team, then!" Sasuke sighed; Shikamaru was a suspect as well, since he was the last person known to make contact with him. How could anyone look over his brother's name and not just sense a murderer?

~sSs~

No, I haven't given up on this, _Not So Different_, or _The_ _Thunder -G-o-d- Girl_, I just haven't had a lot of time or inspiration, but I hope to finish at least two before the end of this summer.


	4. Chapter 4

Wooow... I totally ignored this fanfic... Been something like... two months? Longer?

~sSs~

"Yo, Shikamaru! Any thoughts?" Did Shikamaru have any thoughts? Oh, plenty, but what he was most focused on was discovering Ino's and Kiba's murderer. He had jumped to conclusions, true, but everything was so in place! Anyway, he needed to think. No way would he decide so quickly, again. "Like, Sasuke's stupid bastard of a brother freaking killed my best friend! If you were me, you'd be thinking that." Naruto smiled in such a way that Shikamaru was certain a fire storm had just ignited somewhere.

"Of course I have, but…" Shikamaru was lost in his thoughts. Damn, I was right there… why didn't he kill me, instead? What was it that he wanted with Kiba, specifically? Everything that had applied to Ino has to now be the same with Kiba, but who would think this? That poem… there's something else hidden, isn't there? I'll have to see it, again. "Naruto, get everyone together. We have to see the scene, and we're going there, tonight."

After giving a nod, Naruto ran to collect the team, leaving Sasuke with Shikamaru. "What aren't you telling him?"

Shikamaru leaned back in his office chair. "Plenty, but I'm not going to be the only one thinking this time. Look what happened because I went ahead. Things won't happen like they did with Kiba, this time."

"Better hope not, for both our sakes," Sasuke muttered, They all met up in Naruto's apartment, being that both Shikamaru's and Sasuke's homes were being searched, Kakashi wasn't allowing anyone near his home, and most were a bit scared to enter Jiraiya's, Shino's or places. Iruka was safe, but Naruto's home was closer.

~sSs~

"Okay," Shikamaru began, "so, from here on, we'll assume that one will happen each night, no stops. First of all, someone like that would have to know each of his victims well, not only where they lived, or where they worked, but their hours, too. That's how they catch people and kill them before they have a chance to fight, because they know that there aren't any others watching. Any suggestions? A suspect, or theory?"

Naruto slumped in his chair, knowing that Sasuke forbade him to rant. However, Sasuke did offer up an idea, an obvious one, perhaps, but everything was acceptable material at the moment. "I still say that the murderer is Itachi. Not only was he the one to conveniently find the victim in a house that he almost never enters, but he, in the past, was part of a gang, Akatsuki. They targeted and murdered tens of people, innocent. He shouldn't be walking around, today, but he had a lot of money, and some freaky lawyers…" Sasuke remembered well that face, paler than a dead man's and an unhealthy amount of purple eyeliner… How he became a lawyer, Sasuke never knew.

"We can't jump to any conclusions, just yet. I mean, we didn't suspect Hinata for… when she called about Ino."

Naruto practically leapt from his chair. "But that's Hinata! Itachi really used to kill people, and still does! Hinata was flipping out when she called! I bet Itachi was talking about finding a corpse like it was about ordering pizza!"

"We need to see that letter, in any case. That, and check out the scene," Shikamaru said. "When everyone's gone, we'll have to investigate for ourselves. In this situation, Sasuke and I aren't supposed to allowed on the case, but… I bet you wouldn't last long without us."

Shino grunted for attention. "If I were to make an… 'educated guess,' I might put Rock Lee on the suspect list."

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at that. "Lee? He's always talking about his youth, giving happiness and kindness speeches, and you think he murdered two people? Lee— "

"Make that three," Kakashi said, interrupting. He barged into Naruto's kitchen, his hand resting above a tired brow.

"What do you mean, Kakashi- sensei?" Naruto asked. "It's still light out, and it hasn't been even a whole twenty four hours!"

Kakashi nodded, "But he has struck. And this time, in a place so open, I never thought it'd be possible. Right smack in the middle of a hospital. This time," Kakashi said sadly, "it was Harun— "

"No! This isn't happening!" Naruto yelled. These were his friends, people he loved. "Sakura isn't dead!"

"Not even an hour ago, a doctor was to fetch Haruno Sakura to see Tsunade," Jiraiya said. "It was a… Yakushi, I think. Yakushi Kabuto. She's being brought out in pieces… she was… her limbs were severed from her body, but her eyes… Just listen. I've seen a lot of sick crime scenes, but this made me struggle not to throw up then and there. I don't want to be the person who's unfortunate enough to be examining this woman's… remains, if you can say that."

Naruto needed to find this murderer, and he needed to do it now. No one else could die! And if the pattern was set, someone else would die tonight. He couldn't — he _refused_ — to let another innocent life go. "What— er, why does Shino think Lee would be guilty?"

"Are you aware that Lee used to love Sakura?" Naruto nodded. Everyone knew about Lee and everyone heard his speeches. Most of those speeches were… devoted to explaining in detail just how beautiful his youthful Sakura flower was, grown in his heart's garden, and plucked at the height of her lovely and charming beauty. "She is engaged to a Hyuuga Neji." If there was something really good about everyone going to the same high school, and living in the same town for their lives, it was that there were no questions to be asked about young loves, rivalries, friendships, or heartbreaks. "Lee, even though he and Tenten now work with Neji, he could never fully accept that the Hyuuga was always more recognized as a prodigy. Even in the current dojo, he's not satisfied that he's even, or above."

"But, so, he liked Sakura, and Neji's engaged… Wouldn't he have killed Neji, if that was true?"

"I wonder," said Shino. "Perhaps he thought that this way, even if he couldn't have Sakura, Neji couldn't best him, either. He'd be even."

Naruto sighed. "We have to find this guy before he strikes again. No one else can die, just because we were slow! Kabuto's already being talked to by Iruka and Sai, right? We should split up. Shino said Lee, so he can investigate. Everyone else, let's find our suspects, and finish this case! Go!"

~sSs~

Naruto and Sasuke never parted, and they interviewed Tsunade together about Kabuto, but were sent to a man by the name of Orochimaru. And the first thing Naruto thought: Well… he really should wear less makeup. I mean, purple? What's with this guy? Definitely suspicious.

Jiraiya caught up with Tenten, asking about Lee and Neji, seeing how everyone worked. Unfortunately, at the mere mention of Lee possibly murdering anyone, she started throwing a fit, and screaming that Uchiha was the killer, Uchiha should be the one interrogated, not her or her team. She was particularly protective of Lee.

Considering that Lee and Tenten were taken care of, Shikamaru decided it might be good to just go to the fiancé himself: Hyuuga Neji. Not a good reaction. Shikamaru hadn't even suggested anything, but Neji was already claiming innocence. Suspicious, but after the genius's first mistake in years, no one wanted to assume anything.

Kakashi figured to look into her friends. Apparently, after Ino, there wasn't really anyone close but that Hyuuga girl, the cousin of Haruno's would-be husband. Well, to say the most, she cried a lot. The quietest people always got somehow caught up in these cases.


End file.
